Arjun's Charioteer

During the Mahābhārat war, the Kourav army was much bigger than that of the Pandavs. Before the war started, Duryodhan, the wicked representative of the Kourav, had chosen Shrīkrushna's army. At the same time, Arjun, the representative of the Pandavs and an ardent devotee of Shrikrushna, had happily chosen Shrikrushna to be his charioteer. Here is an example of how choosing The God over His army helped the Pandavs.

The Kourav had many great warriors on their side. Karna was one such great warrior. He had made the choice to be loyal to his friend Duryodhan and fight on his side. During the course of the war, Arjun had to battle with Karna, who was an exceptional archer. Intending to cut off Arjun's head, Karna shot a Divine missile at him. Shrikrushna, Arjun's charioteer, foresaw this great danger coming towards Arjun. Immediately, the compassionate God made the five horses kneel down and pushed the chariot wheels a few inches into the earth by pressing down hard with His big toe. This caused the missile to miss its mark; it only took away Arjun's crown without injuring any part of his body. Shortly, by Shrikrushna's grace, Arjun's arrow found its mark and Karna was no more.

Many such incidents of Shrikrushna's Divine support were seen during this Great War. They finally brought victory to the small, but Righteous, Pandav army. The Kourav army lost, despite its size and might.

Moral: This story shows us that if we choose God in everything we do, He makes obstacles even as great as Divine missiles, simply pass us by with minimal damage. Hence, like Arjun, if we choose God in everything we do by continually chanting His name and by prayer, we too will realise that whatever pain we undergo during tough times, is nothing compared to what we would have gone through, without God on our side.